Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald has called for HSE boss Tony O’Brien to resign or he should be sacked over his role in the cervical cancer scandal.

Ms McDonald said that his claims that he only found out about the tragic misdiagnoses when he read about it on the RTE News website “stretched credibility to breaking point.”

Ms McDonald was speaking to political journalists on the Plinth of Leinster House on Tuesday morning ahead of a long day in Leinster House where the cervical cancer controversy is set to dominate proceedings.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald (Image: Gareth Chaney Collins)

Ms McDonald told the Irish Mirror what she thinks about Mr O’Brien’s claims: “I find that incredible, I find it stretches credibility to breaking point.

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“Mr O’Brien had previous involvement with CervicalCheck himself, he was head of the HSE, I find it very difficult to believe or accept that he knew nothing of these matters until the very recent past, and can I tell if that is the case, it just further undermines the reasons why he needs to go.

Leinster House (stock)

“There are questions for the system across the board, for the health system, for the HSE, CervicalCheck, questions for Government….. but Mr O’Brien is in charge of the HSE, the buck stops with him.

“Mr O’Brien is responsible for the functioning, the practises and the oversight of the HSE.

“Mr O’Brien now says that he knew nothing about Vicky Phelan, that he knew nothing of this case, it seems that he knew nothing in respect of the difficulties that arose from the audit and the position that it put women and their families in.

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“I’m saying to you that that stretched credibility, I don’t believe that that is a credible account from the person who is in charge of the HSE.

“And I think given the circumstances and the depth of this scandal, I think Mr O’Brien, that his position is untenable, I think that he should step aside and if he’s not prepared to do that I think he should be sacked.”